Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.

Andy was lying on the couch, shot arm resting across his stomach, remote in hand when he heard the doorbell ring. It was Thursday night and Cub's last day before his guardian came home. The past five days had gone pretty smooth all things considered.

Abby had been told that Kopp had tried to kill her lawyer when she lost the custody battle but the man had ducked and the bullet continued its journey to Andy. She believed it for lack of any better theory and since everyone had been maintaining that Kopp was an insane bitch, it wasn't that far of a stretch.

So with no potential threat, things had settled down nicely. Cub was a bit less cold towards Andy though he was clearly irritated by the mere existence of the rest of K-Unit. Andy knew Cub was only acting nicer towards him because of what happened; he wasn't that clueless.

What did freak him out a little was how easily Abby and Cub got along. It was almost scary how fast the two were comfortable with each other. He'd asked her about it but Abby only said, "He's a good kid. Got a wicked sense of humor." He really didn't like the sound of that.

Cub still tended to disappear at the drop of a hat but at the very least left notes telling Andy where he'd supposedly gone. The boy still left them on the office window; Andy started think he was doing weird things on purpose. How hard was it for the kid to poke his head into the living room and just tell him he was leaving instead of having to sneak out? Maybe he was just working on his stealth?

The doorbell rang again and this time Andy groaned and got up. It was midnight. Who the hell could that be? When he opened the door he was beyond shocked. It was a sight he'd never thought he'd see. Cub being brought back by the police.

His first thought was that the kid had killed somebody. He was wearing all black and had swipe of red on his bare arm. But it looked more like paint than blood. Besides, he'd have been called to the station if it was something that serious.

"What did you do?" he asked, directing the question solely at the blond boy. However, it was the officer who spoke.

"We caught him and his friend in the middle of an act of vandalism," he said. "The car was egged, there was trash all over the lawn, and they painted a message on the driveway." Andy raised his eyebrows. Shit, was he going to have pay for that? "The family says they won't press charges if they clean it all up."

"Oh, he'll clean it up," Andy said, using his good arm to pull the kid away from the policeman and into the flat. "Thanks for bringing him back." A few minutes later and Andy shut the door. Cub was already in the living room and watching TV. Andy shut it off. "What the hell Cub? I said don't raise too much hell."

"You said you wouldn't pay bail," he replied. "And you don't have to. Besides, I couldn't leave Jake." Jake? As in Jake the Snake? What the hell was Jake doing vandalizing a house with Cub? Surely he knew that was a bad career move?

"Not your Jake," Cub said quickly seeing the look of utter confusion. "My friend from school. He got caught on the fence. I couldn't leave him there." Trust Cub's hero instinct to get him caught.

"What exactly did you do?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. Of all the things for the kid to pull on his last night there.

"Egged the car, tipped their trash cans on their lawn, and painted the driveway."

"What did you paint on the driveway?" Andy asked recalling that the officer had said message. Cub shifted a bit.

"They painted 'Coke Whore'," he said.

"Wait a second, is this about that prank that those kids pulled last week?" he asked. Cub nodded.

"Tom said revenge was needed and everyone else agreed."

"How many kids were there?"

"Just three plus myself." He it made it sound as if that made it all better. Andy had a serious urge to lecture the kid about the stunt he'd just pulled. But it was Cub's last night and he was tired. Besides, Cub wasn't really his problem. Let the American handle it.

Andy raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Whatever kid," he said. "When do you have to be there to clean up?"

"Eight," came the instant reply. "Oh and I'll need a ride."

"Of course you will," Andy mumbled. God forbid Cub leave him out of his messes. But then again, he was a teenager. Andy decided right then and there that he would never agree to be a temporary guardian again. Teenaged spies brought far too many problems than was healthy. And he had the bullet wound to prove it.

Andy did indeed drive Cub to his clean up appointment the next morning. His right arm was fairly useless, so he drove entirely one handed. Not the safest method in the world but he point blank refused to allow the kid to drive his car.

"C'mon, Eagle," he'd said. "I'm not going to crash it."

"I don't care," Andy replied. "You aren't driving my car." Cub gave up fairly quickly. Andy was surprised by how much damage Cub and his friends had done. There was trash all over the front lawn, the car would need a new paint job, and the driveway had that ugly message in red. It made the nice looking, clearly expensive house, look terrible. All curb appeal was gone.

"You guys did all of this?" he asked his tone colored with his feelings of surprise. Cub shifted in his seat.

"Well, I didn't even know this was what we were doing until we got here," he said. "I didn't technically do anything. Just kept watch."

"If you didn't do anything then how did you get that paint on your arm?" he asked.

"Jake got caught on the fence and he was covered in it," Cub replied with a shrug. He then got out and took the rake and trash bags he'd brought with him out of the trunk. Andy shut the car off as a man dressed in casual yet expensive clothes came out of the house. Thinking he'd better talk to the guy, Andy got out of the car.

"Are you his guardian?" the man asked as they shook hands.

"Yeah, Andy Rosten," he greeted.

"Matthew Teller," the man replied with a nod of his head. "I'm Astrid's stepfather." Andy didn't reply. He really didn't have anything to say to the man. "So, I was wondering if you could shed some light on what happened." Andy turned to look at Cub as he greeted another boy and the two started cleaning. That must be Jake, he figured.

He didn't quite know what he should say to the man. He was clearly pissed about what the boys had done to his lawn but Andy really couldn't muster any sympathy for him. It wasn't like his stepdaughter didn't deserve what happened. It also wasn't like Cub himself had done anything personally other than just watching it happen. The blond boy didn't seem like the type to egg a car but he did seem like the type who wouldn't care if it happened to someone who deserved it.

"Not really," he finally said with a sigh. "I'm just a temporary guardian." Teller didn't seem overly placated by that. In fact the look he was giving Andy clearly told the soldier that the rich man wanted him to leave and never come back. Andy knew he looked a sight with his busted arm and slightly clouded eyes. Not to mention the rumpled sweatpants and t-shirt he was wearing. He hadn't even bothered to shower. His appearance got no brownie points with the overly vain man.

"So you have no idea why these boys decided to do this?" he asked somehow making the word 'boys' sound like an insult.

"Not really," Andy repeated with a shrug. "Kids will be kids." Teller narrowed his eyes. Clearly he didn't quite agree with that sentiment. Andy, thoroughly enjoying himself at this point, decided to press on. It wasn't like he was ever going to see this guy again. "I actually kind of think it's your stepdaughter's fault."

"Oh, really?" Teller replied, arms folded and eyes raised in a look of disbelief. "What makes you think that?" Andy gave a coy smile and launched into an explanation of the drug charge a week ago. While it wasn't an overly big spin, he did manage to make Cub seem like more of a victim than he actually was. Sure the kid had been targeted unfairly but it wasn't like he'd cried about it or anything. By the time he was done, Teller's eyes had narrowed even more but this time the anger wasn't directed at Andy.

"Excuse me," he said when the soldier was done and turned, going back inside. He slammed the door behind him. Cub witnessing the man leaving came over with his friend in tow. Andy noted how he stank from both sweat and garbage. He barely resisted telling Cub to go away.

"What did you tell him?" the boy asked.

"Oh nothing," Andy replied stuffing his good hand into his pocket. "But I don't think she'll bother you again." If there was thing Andy knew, it was how to get bullies to back off. Sure it would seem like the whole tell a parent thing would make it worse, but with someone like Cub, who could truly hold his own anyway, it actually would make the situation better. Because now the girl not only had to worry about further retribution from Cub but from Cub's guardian.

"Why?" he asked, suspicious. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing," Andy said again. "Don't you have a yard to clean?" The two boys went back to work and Andy, having nothing better to do, sat on a clean section of the driveway and called out helpful hints. Cub was visibly getting increasingly annoyed but Andy hardly cared. He deserved a little retribution himself after all.

Three hours later the boys were done and Teller still hadn't made a reappearance so Andy assumed it was okay for them to leave. He agreed to give Jake a lift home then quickly regretted it. Shutting the car doors Andy gagged. He quickly started the car and rolled down all the windows.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. "You boys stink!" Jake sniffed his armpit and the face he made clearly showed he agreed with Andy's exclamation.

"What did you expect?" Cub asked as he snapped his seatbelt into place. "Roses?" He gagged again and severely wished he'd had the foresight to spray them with the hose.

Cub let out a sigh as Jake closed his front door. Andy effectively ignored him as he pulled away relishing in the diminished smell. Apparently Jake had been the worst of the two and Andy was starting to think that he'd rolled in some of it when the soldier wasn't looking.

"Is all your stuff packed?" Andy asked for lack of something else to say. But there was some importance to the question. Whatever Cub left behind would probably end up in the dumpster in a span of minutes.

"Yeah," the boy replied still staring out the open window.

"Good, after you shower we'll leave," he said and glanced at the clock. "Jack's plane should have landed an hour ago." Cub just nodded. "You okay kid?" Andy wasn't sure why he asked, just felt the need to.

"What do you care?" Cub quipped, a smirk on his face.

"I don't," he replied. "But Jack's kind of scary so I thought it would be best to return you in one piece."

"You've only ever talked to Jack on the phone," Cub said, eyebrows crinkled.

"Yeah, so?"

"How do you know she's scary?"

"I can just tell," he replied vaguely. Cub rolled his eyes and turned back to the open window.

Andy wasn't quite sure how he felt about the end of Cub's stay. On the one hand he'd kind of gotten used to having the kid around but on the other he was ready for the boy to leave and never come back. They'd somewhat established a rocky friendship that Andy truly did want to keep. He couldn't help it; the kid was pretty cool to have around. Almost like a mini-Rey, although he'd be dead if he ever voiced that comparison aloud.

In retrospect it was probably why the two of them still didn't along all that great. They were just too alike.

But Cub was Andy's complete opposite, especially when he thought about his own teenage years and despite the danger filled first week, Andy thought things went really well. It could have been a lot worse in his opinion.

"Is K-Unit and Abby coming over today?" Cub asked as he came to the living room, his blond hair still wet.

"Why would they?" he asked, turning off the TV and standing up, fully prepared to go.

"Kinda wanted to say goodbye," Cub mumbled. Andy did his best to quash the feeling of how cute that was. He settled for a weird look which made Cub annoyed. "What?"

"You live like fifteen minutes away," he said. "If they want to find you I'm sure they will."

"Do they even know where I live?"

"No, but I do," he said. Cub rolled his eyes and left the flat without another word. Andy followed him back down to the car and climbed into the driver's seat. They rode over to Cub's house in silence (Andy had the address from when he'd been told Cub was coming and had looked up where it was) except for some radio station that Cub had instantly tuned his car's radio to.

When they got to his house, Andy pulled over at the curb and put the car into park. He wouldn't be going in. Cub just sort of stared at the front door for a minute before turned back to Andy.

"Well kid," Andy said, trying to mask the sudden feelings of awkwardness. "It's been a hell of a couple of weeks but it was fun." Cub gave him an amused smile.

"Yeah," he said. "Sorry again, about your arm and all."

"Don't worry about it," Andy said. "Just part of the life." Cub nodded and bit his lip, trying to work himself up into saying something. Andy just waited.

"Thanks, Andy," he finally said. "For everything." It took him a couple of moments to get over the shock of hearing Cub use his real name. Even when Abby was over he'd never called him that, although he'd certainly never called him his codename either. After all, the kid wasn't supposed to know it.

"Your welcome, Alex," he returned. "If you need anything you know where I am." The boy gave him a thankful smile and opened the door. Before he got out though, Andy continued. "I don't mean you need bail money type of thing. I mean like your dying and don't have anywhere else to go." Cub couldn't quite suppress his laugh.

"Gotcha," he said. "Bye."

"Bye." Cub grabbed his bag from the back seat, shut the door, and went to his house. Andy waited until he was through the front door before he drove off. It wasn't like he cared or anything. No, he didn't really care what the boy did. He just wanted to make sure the trouble magnet got to where he needed to be thus leaving Andy scot free.

He wondered if he would see the boy again. He figured he probably would. He just hoped he wouldn't have to battle anymore custody cases against psycho gold diggers with powerful friends. If he did, he decided that he just wouldn't stand next to Cub.

The boy attracted bullets like magnets attracted metal. Not to mention the fact that he was positive his blood pressure couldn't survive prolonged contact with the boy. He wondered how the American did it.

Awwww! It's over. :( Not entirely sure if I'll do a sequel or not but at the moment it's a not. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it and let me know what you think.

~Crowlows